Concerning Bridge #174

Dear Editor,

My Name is Pat Conder, and being a county resident/taxpayer and one of the people being directly affected by Bridge #174, I would like to give my opinion.

First, so that everybody understands the issues, the issues are that Bridge 174 is now closed and in need of replacement or repair. And how does it get paid for? Long before the bridge was closed, a prior group of commissioners had applied for federal aid money to replace the bridge, which at that time had some separation of the abutment wall on the east end. As we all know, anything going through the federal government takes a lot of time. Then you throw into the matter that this bridge is a railroad bridge and has to involve the railroad, then it takes even more time as they are also part of the government and have full control over the specifications of building a new bridge. So this matter has been dragging on for a few years.

So, after a few years of going through the process a new group of commissioners had been elected, and when the federal aid program finally reached them, I believe that they probably rubber stamped it as it had been in the process for a good amount of time and they were looking at it as getting a new bridge for the county with mostly federal money. When they voted to proceed with the funding the vote was 2-1. I won’t say who voted how as I think that is apparent. There are, I believe, two reasons for the one vote of ‘no.’

First, the one commissioner who voted no had been over this bridge many times. He knew the current bridge and pretty much the flow of traffic over it. I don’t believe the other two new what the bridge was when they voted ‘yes.’

Second, the federal aid bridge had a price tag of $1,800,000 to $2,200,000. Under the federal aid program the split is 80/20. The county paying 20 percent of the average of $2,000.000 equals $400,000. The engineering fees alone are $281,000.

Surveying of the bridge was started at the end of last year, and the bridge was to be let out for bidding in 2013 and to be built in 2014-2015.

In the meantime, in February of this year the railroad noticed that the abutment wall had slipped even further than the last time it was checked and had the county close the bridge immediately.

Without this bridge my neighbor, Leroy Hall, and I were subject to be trapped as there is a large bottom on the other side of us that floods regularly, with no way for emergency services to get to us. So far this year we have been trapped by flood waters for 26 days. After trying to get an approval from the railroad for a few months with no success, Leroy approved the use of his land as an emergency access lane. Commissioner Minnick donated the dozer and time, while the county donated labor and some gravel.

So that led us and the county to see what other avenues could be pursued. After many meetings the county has let out for bid bridges that are pre-designed and engineered. Although the bids are not in yet for the commissioners to consider, the numbers that have been thrown around are in the $350,000 to $400,000 range, about the same as the county’s part in the federal bridge.

Now comes the practicality, or lack of practicality, of putting the federal bridge on Lingle Road.

Lingle is a narrow road; it is old Highway 67. There are very few of us who live along Lingle, maybe 10 residences in two miles or so. The bridge that is in disrepair is a one lane, steel topped bridge that has served the residences well for many years. The proposed federal bridge will be 28 feet wide and have four foot shoulders on each side, with 1,500 feet of 24-28 feet wide, four-inch thick asphalt coming off of the ends and guardrails some 150 feet off of each end. So you will come off of a basically one lane road onto this highway, over a highway bridge then 750 feet later back onto a basically one lane road. A couple hundred feet later you will drive over a one lane, nine-ton limit bridge. The federal bridge is rated to take any weight limit. The problem is that nothing of any substantial weight can get to it from the north because of the nine-ton bridge. Motorists coming from the south, once they cross the new bridge, will have to turn around, again because of the nine-ton bridge. So this bridge is way, way too much for this road and will not be built for another three to four years.

The county bridge which will have the same weight load as the federal comes without all of the bells and whistles. The cost to the county at the time that I got involved would have been pretty equal and could be built by the end of the year if things will move along.

The commissioners naturally want to do what is best for the county and have many times stated that they want to cost the county taxpayer the least amount of money. Understandably so. However, it is my opinion that the county taxpayer is also a federal taxpayer and there is going to be a huge waste of money here, over $2,000,000

Lets do the math.

Federal aid bridge: As of last week, the Indiana Department of Transportation, which is the overseer of any bridge built, has the cost at $2,633,670 – an increase of six to eight hundred thousand dollars in four to five months, and an additional $126,600 to the county.

Also as of last week, the commissioners had another 2-1 vote to send a letter of intent to seek more of the federal funds. From what is reported by this newspaper, using numbers from INDOT, the county can only get a total of $1,682,000 of the 2,633.670. That now leaves the county with $950,000- $960,000.

If it comes in at the expected numbers, $350,000 to $400,000, a county bridge will clearly be less money to the county than the federal bridge. Let it be known that there are some additional cost here that will be incurred by the county, such as a railroad flagman to be on site while trains are in the area. There are anywhere from one to two trains a day. No one knows what those charges are yet, but a figure of $25,000 has been put out there by one bridge construction firm; even if it’s $100,000 it will still be cheaper, and I’m applying for the job!

Now for my opinion... As I have stated many times now, we do not need to spend that kind of money on that kind of bridge, on that road. It is a huge waste of money and I don’t want to see it wasted in front of me. I think we all wonder how in the world the federal deficit can be so large and how the waste of money in Washington can be so rampant. If the federal bridge is still approved then we will only have to look within to get the answer.

The decision will be made on or around July 5th. I hope that you as a taxpayer will voice your opinion.